Exploring Old Haunts

An early morning departure for Alte was on our agenda for Saturday morning. We were hoping to locate a vendor we knew had moved to that town, plus it was a warm but dreary day and we thought a lovely trek through the back mountain roads was in order to brighten up our spirits.

The drive was in fact wonderfully therapeutic and enjoyable and the sun did come out from time to time, which always makes a colossal difference, at least for me.

Our first stop in Alte was a favourite café that our dear friend Gwen McCauley introduced us to many many years ago. We’ve made it a “habit” of stopping there for a coffee and for some, a pastry treat, sustenance for the countless up and down hills Alte requires us to take. All of todays teats were almond based.

We did not have any luck in finding our store, by all accounts, she has closed business and that’s the end of that story! In spite of the disappointment we did enjoy a leisurely jaunt around town to take in the ambience and burn off the sweets! Both Marc and I noted that Alte seems to have lost a tiny bit of it’s appeal. It needs a bit of TLC (tender loving care) to restore some of the luster. That said, I would still recommend a day visit.

Several old buildings have been torn down and this rich red soil has been placed high above new retaining wall that has been decorated with lovely tiles with motifs celebrating the village. The hill and wall almost looks like a painting. It certainly stands out!

There is always a bit of colour along every route and I was happy to see that some soul had transferred a wild lupin, that normally grows in sandy areas, into a large flowerpot filled with sand and placed at their gate. The butterfly bush is on a large embankment near the river, I was literally on my knees hanging over a wall while taking that one. And the last,Coleus neochilus, Plectranthus neochilus, which is colloquially known as lobster bush, fly bush or mosquito bush. It STINKS!!!!!!!!

At some point we realized that we might as well simply drive on to Silves given we were only about 20 km away, and enjoy a pizza at one of our favourite old haunts in that town. Again, sadly, new owners, mediocre pizza, but we still enjoyed the drive, walking around Silves, and mostly, an opportunity to sit, relax, and gab a couple of hours away.

Our selfie. I had to run to get into the frame, hence the wild hair! It was cool when we first arrived but it warmed up as the sun came out and all four of us agreed it would be better to remain outside. Following lunch we did a little wandering and Marc, who is not much of a shopper, found a purchase that pleased him. Joanne too made a small purchase and I think the proprietor was happy we had wandered in!

All in all a wonderful outing, a full day, and it was only just beginning as we had a dinner date at 19h00 that included live Fado music. The food turned out to be worth every moment of being there but the fado was a tiny bit too local for my tastes, they seemed to have some sort of “open mike” evening. That said, totally enjoy the ambience, the company (Pat, Gary & Dawn) plus the four of us, and simply the aspect of an evening outing, something we don’t do that much.

And here we are, Sunday morning, rain gently coming down (yet again), and I do believe a visit to the mall…..I broke a lace on my hiking boots and that’s not good!!